On behalf of the guest editorial team atSocial Media + Society, we would like to invite all presenters from the 2017 International Conference on Social Media & Society to submit to our #SMSociety Special Issue on “Social Media for Social Good or Evil” in SM+Sjournal. All presenters at the 2017 #SMSociety Conference – including full papers, work-in-progress papers, panels, workshops, tutorials, or posters – are invited to submit a paper for inclusion in the Special Issue.

The aim of the Special Issue is to highlight the wide-ranging research in social media that showcases research from scholars working in many fields, including Communication, Computer Science, Education, Journalism, Information, Management, Political Science, Sociology, etc.

If your paper was published in the Conference Proceedings, you are welcome to submit a revised manuscript to the Special Issue if you substantially expand your paper (at least ~30% new content, such as new tests/case studies or expanded discussion that offer additional insights above and beyond the previously published conference paper).

SUBMISSION SCHEDULE

November 13, 2017: Submission deadline for the Special Issue

January 30, 2018: First round reviews

March 30, 2018: Final editorial decisions

Spring–Summer 2018: Publication of theSM+SSpecial Issue

SUBMISSION WEBSITE

In order to be considered for this Special Issue, please be sure to submit to the link below, rather than to the journal directly.

The journal special issue will follow the broad theme of the 2017 SMSociety conference on “Social Media for Social Good or Evil.” Our online behaviour is far from virtual—it extends our offline lives. Much of social media research has identified the positive opportunities of using social media; for example, how people use social media to form support groups online, participate in political uprisings, raise money for charities, and extend teaching and learning outside the classroom. However, mirroring offline experiences, we have also seen social media being used to spread propaganda and misinformation, recruit terrorists, live stream criminal activities, reinforce ideological echo chambers, and perpetuate hate and oppression (such as racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic behaviour). Furthermore, behind the posts are algorithms, power structures, commercial interests, and other factors that surreptitiously influence our experiences on social media. So, we ask:

What does it mean to use social media for social good?

How can social media be further leveraged for social justice? What are the threats to meaningful participation and how can we overcome these threats?

What do we know about the 4 W’s of who, what, why, where (and how) do people engage in anti-social behaviour online?

What theoretical and methodological tools can we use to study anti-social behaviour? Can we detect such behaviour automatically?

What are the ethics of algorithms (inclusion, accessibility, data discrimination, bots)?

What are the legal, policy, privacy, and ethical implications of using social big data?

Considering the proliferation of bots online, can we still trust social media data?

And more broadly, what are the major effects of using social media on political, economic, individual, and social aspects of our society?